Duboisia sp.
Duboisia myoporoides and Duboisia leichhardtii are two species of plants of the genus Duboisia, whose natural environment is Australia and New Caledonia. Duboisia myoporoides grows on the borders of humid equatorial forests on the east coast of Australia, while Duboisia leichhardtii prefers dry soils inland. Both plants are a valuable source of tropane alkaloids. The pharmaceutical raw material is dried leaves of plants, the main active ingredients of which are: scopolamine (hyoscin) and hyocyanin. The high content of alkaloids in plant leaves was not discovered until 1880, and production on an industrial scale began after World War II. 1
Hyoscin is an alkaloid with parasympatholytic and spasmolytic effects. In medicine, the ammonium base is used – butyl bromide of hyoscin, which, unlike natural alkaloids, has no effect on the central nervous system. It has an indirect spasmolytic effect, blocking muscarinic cholinergic receptors in non-ganglionic parasympathetic neurons and nicotinic receptors in vegetative ganglia. As a result of parasympatholytic and ganglioplegic action, the contractions of smooth muscles of the digestive tract, bile ducts and urogenital system are eliminated.
The influence of butylobromide hyoscin on ganglionic receptors is characterized by some selectivity and concerns mainly intraparietal gastrointestinal ganglia, bile ducts and genitourinary tract ganglia. 2,3
Herbapol Wrocław used hyoscin butyl bromide in the formulation of the following medicines: Scopolan (tablets and suppositories) and Scopolan compositum.
1 W. Ohlendorf, Domestication and crop development of Duboisia sp. (Solanaceae), [w:] Domestication and commercialization of non-timber forest products in agroforestry products, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rzym 1996, s. 183-187
2 E. Lamer-Zarawska, B. Kowal-Gierczak, J. Niedworok, Fitoterapia i Leki roślinne, wyd. PZWL, Warszawa 2007, s. 153-155
3 Charakterystyka Produktu Leczniczego Scopolan Compositum, 02.12.2015